Students fight for financial aid to undocumented

Eileen FitzGerald

Published 11:07 pm, Monday, February 18, 2013

Some students and their allies will make a last pitch to a legislative committee in Hartford on Tuesday to act on a bill that would allow eligible undocumented students to receive financial aid funded by tuition.

Senate Bill 475, introduced by state Sen. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, would allow students who are eligible for in-state tuition -- regardless of immigration status -- to receive financial aid from institutions that is funded by tuition dollars.

The aid is now allocated through a federal financial form, which undocumented students cannot fill out because it requires a Social Security number. They are not eligible for federal aid either.

"We want to bring attention to the bill and to show the support that we have, and hopefully it will get them to take action," said Danbury resident Camila Bortolleto, one of the founders of CT Students for a DREAM.

The organization is named after the federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act legislation.

They got some help in 2011, when the state passed a law to allow them to pay in-state fees at state schools, rather than out-of-state rates.

While aid available to undocumented students from colleges and other postsecondary schools varies widely, this law would address public schools.

"This would formalize the process to get need-based financial aid," Bortolleto said.

She said undocumented students pay tuition, so they should have access to the aid that is funded by tuition dollars.

The bill would require the state to develop new forms that would allow undocumented students to apply for aid without the use of a Social Security number.

California, New Mexico, and Texas already have similar legislation to allow such students access to financial aid, Bortolleto said.

Twenty-two-year-old Lucas Codognolla, of Stamford, who is now a college senior, came from Brazil when he was 9 and is undocumented. He has paid nearly all his own way at the University of Connecticut Stamford, but some semesters, he attended part time because he couldn't afford tuition even while working more than 25 hours a week.